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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042621">Close Enough</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DjDangerLove/pseuds/DjDangerLove'>DjDangerLove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tarlos March Madness [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, brief mentions of past drug use</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:41:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,573</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DjDangerLove/pseuds/DjDangerLove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, what’s really going on? You and Carlos okay?”</p><p>“Yes,” TK rushes to assure, but then thinks of the way he could barely look at him while standing in the doorframe. “I mean, I guess so. No? I don’t know.”</p><p>Grace takes a deep breath like it pains her just as much as TK that whatever she picked up on between them a few minutes ago is real and tangible and not going away until somebody has the nerve to make the first move. </p><p> </p><p>Or: The Ryders help Carlos and TK figure out their problems.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Reyes &amp; Judd Ryder (9-1-1 Lone Star), Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Grace Ryder &amp; TK Strand (9-1-1 Lone Star), Grace Ryder/Judd Ryder (9-1-1 Lone Star)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tarlos March Madness [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189232</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>368</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Close Enough</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalstrand/gifts">immortalstrand</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/laelipoo/gifts">laelipoo</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you for talking me through my moment of panic and breathing life into this story.🖤</p><p>Tarlos March Madness #14of 31</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>TK stares at the blue text bubble on his phone until it feels like it burns into his retinas. It’s been four days since it first appeared, the chime of which still rings in his ears every time he looks at it. He still hasn’t replied. Everything that comes to mind turns the dial on his anxiety to eleven even though his therapist’s scale stops at ten. </p><p>A knock on the open door sends his phone crashing into the hardwood, the corner making contact with a loud thump to prevent the screen from shattering. He looks up at the person in the doorframe just in time to see the quick furrow of Carlos’ brow before it’s gone. </p><p>“The Ryders are here,” is all he says, a testament to just how awful this week has been ever since TK received <em> the </em> text message. It’s all his fault, he knows it is, but it doesn’t stop the petty flare of anger from striking deep in his belly and staying there when Carlos turns away from the doorframe. </p><p>He retrieves his phone from the floor and after a quick check to make sure it’s in working condition and that in some bizarre twist of fate the message wasn’t deleted, he pockets his phone before heading downstairs. </p><p>Carlos has already led the Ryders to the back porch by the time he descends the stairs and has Grace sitting in one of the patio chairs with a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade in her hand. She turns to him when he exits the house, smiling with the beautiful glow of being six months pregnant.</p><p>“I was beginning to wonder if you were giving yourself another injury just so you wouldn’t have to sit out here with me and watch those two fix the fence,” she teases him, holding out her arm so that he will walk over and hug her. </p><p>He snorts under Judd’s cackle and lets her hug him around the waist. “You know I’d never miss an opportunity to hang out with you and for the last time, I did not purposefully cut my hand to get out of this.”</p><p>“Uh huh!” Judd says, disbelief and amusement melting into a smile across his face. “You better not have stitches when it’s time to build my kid a crib, Pretty Boy.”</p><p>“Keep calling me that and you might have some,” he groans even though the nickname is there to stay and he doesn’t actually mind it anymore. Whether Grace knows that if she doesn’t step in the verbal sparring will last well into the afternoon or she takes pity on Carlos just standing there looking bored, she cuts them off with a, “Alright, boys! Knock it off.”</p><p>Judd nods a, “Yes, ma’am,” while Carlos offers Grace a grateful smile, one of which has TK trying to remember the last time he put one of those on his boyfriend’s face. His disappointment must show, because the next thing he knows is Judd clapping his hands with an awkward, “Welp! Let’s see about this fence, brother,” to Carlos even though he gives a bewildered glance at TK. </p><p>He watches the two of them cross the yard to the broken part of the fence where a tree limb fell on it during a storm a few weeks back until a loud sigh from beside him steals his attention. He finds Grace staring at him, her face a mixture emotions TK can’t quite place. </p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Don’t what me, Strand. You know exactly what.”</p><p>TK feels a week’s worth of anxiety start to churn in his belly and he breathes deep through one last effort to make it go away. “Grace, I cut my hand chopping carrots for dinner the other night which ruined the whole thing by the way! Not only did I have to go to the ER for stitches, but I got blood all over Carlos’ favorite chopping block that he somehow made with his grandfather! I can assure you, none of this,” he motions to his bandaged right hand with a scowl, “was on purpose.” </p><p>Grace takes pity on him, tugs him down by his hand until he’s sitting beside her in the other patio chair. “Oh, honey, we know that. Judd’s just giving you a hard time.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, life in general seems to be doing that enough so maybe he could lay off,” TK mumbles, playing with the tape keeping the gauze wrapped around his palm until Grace’s gentle fingers settle over his to keep them still.</p><p>“Hey, what’s really going on? You and Carlos okay?”</p><p>“Yes,” TK rushes to assure, but then thinks of the way he could barely look at him while standing in the doorframe. “I mean, I guess so. No? I don’t know.”</p><p>Grace takes a deep breath like it pains her just as much as TK that whatever she picked up on between them a few minutes ago is real and tangible and not going away until somebody has the nerve to make the first move. </p><p>“You want to talk about it?” She asks, and it warms him to know that she only does so because he’s five seconds away from spilling everything whether he wants to or not and asking it makes him pause long enough to prevent it.</p><p>He takes a breath, lets his thoughts rearrange into something more coherent and less jumbled by anxiety, and looks at her with a sadness he’s been trying to hide. “It started four days ago when I got this text.”</p><p> </p><p>————————</p><p>Judd has come to appreciate the quiet that surrounds Carlos Reyes. Judd isn’t the softest spoken person in the world, or hell even in the city limits of Austin, Texas, but as much as he likes cutting up and having a good time with his poker buddies and his crew, he enjoys the company of the 126’s favorite APD officer quite a bit. </p><p>Carlos is smart, polite, and deadpan funny when he wants to be. He’s a tad bit shy, something that Judd likes to poke at from time to time just to get him out of that shell on karaoke night or when Grace wants to play charades at one of their parties. And Carlos is quiet, the kind of quiet that lets you enjoy a person’s company without always having a conversation but knowing that he’s listening with every bit of his attention if there is one. Judd appreciates that about him, grateful that he’s found someone to grab a beer with after a rough shift that will be content enough to just sip on a cold longneck and sit in silence without being alone. </p><p>The thing with Carlos though is that there’s a threshold of being too quite and he’s well surpassed it today. Sure they discussed their plan of attack for fixing the fence, but ever since then they’ve worked in complete silence and it’s driving Judd crazy. They’ve just finished clearing the debris from the section of the gate they’re repairing when Judd finally breaks.</p><p>“Alright, my man, Spill.”</p><p>“What?” Carlos asks, looking up from studying their materials with a frown on his face. </p><p>“You’re too quiet and I could have cut the tension between you and lover boy back there with a knife if I wasn’t afraid of giving TK more stitches,” Judd says as he picks up their first piece of plywood to connect to the rest of the fence. </p><p>“It’s nothing,” Carlos deflects, helping Judd slot it in the right place. </p><p>“Oh, no. No, no, no,” Judd props the board up against the standing part of the fence and turns to Carlos, hand on his shoulder and looking him dead in the eye. “Don’t ever say that. That phrase…remove it from your vocabulary right now and never, ever think of it again.”</p><p>Carlos chuckles, pushing Judd’s hand away. “What are you on about, Ryder?”</p><p>“As a happily married man, I can tell you that phrase will get you into way more trouble than it’s worth. So do us both a favor and <em> never </em> say it again,” Judd says, following Carlos’ lead of getting back to work. “I like you, so don’t make me have to do something I’m going to regret.”</p><p>Carlos turns to him with a raised brow. “Is this the part where you tell me you’ll kill me if I hurt TK? ‘Cause technically that’s threatening a cop.”</p><p>“Hell, nah. This is the part where I tell you I’ll kill both of you if y’all don’t get your heads out of your asses and work out whatever’s going on,” Judd counters. “And no threats, brother. That’s a promise.”</p><p>Carlos huffs, amusement apparent in the sound even though his face is molded by a frown. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on,” he relents, then shakes his head while pushing a hand through his sweaty hair making the curls looser. “He’s just…he’s been driving me nuts the past couple of days and won’t tell me what’s wrong. I can tell he’s nervous about something, but every time I try to bring it up he…gets defensive and we end up arguing.”</p><p>“When did it start?” Judd asks, motioning with his head for Carlos to get the nail gun to secure their piece of plywood. Carlos reaches for it and answers, “A few days ago,” before clicking it on. The sound drowning out the rest of their conversation. </p><p>————————</p><p>“So, one of your friends from back in New York <em> texts </em> you an invite to his wedding?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“And that’s why you’re freaking out?”</p><p>“Yes.” TK confirms then shakes his head. “No.”</p><p>“Alright, TK, honey, I love you but you’re going to have to explain this to me again with less tangents. Just give it to me straight,” Grace says, rubbing a hand down her swollen belly and sipping on her lemonade.</p><p>TK huffs, guilty for annoying her with his overreactions. “No, I’m sorry. You need to relax and you already came over here on your day off because I’m an idiot and can’t cut vegetables without screwing everything up-“</p><p>“Hey! Woah, woah. Take a breath, TK.” She reaches for him, her hand leaving her belly to comfort him instead. “None of that is true and I’m not going to relax until I know for sure what’s going on and help you figure out how to fix it. Okay?”</p><p>He nods at her, calming under her gentle hand against his arm.</p><p>“Good, now from the top, but give me the highlights.”</p><p>“My…friend from New York, one I’ve known since high school is getting married to a girl we used to hang out with. They dated off and on but it was never…good,” he starts slowly, choosing to stare at the condensation rolling down the pitcher of the lemonade and trying to match the speed of his words to the slow slide moisture down the glass. </p><p>“These friends of yours? Are they the ones…that got you into drugs?” Grace asks kindly like she already knows the answer, but doesn’t want to assume. </p><p>“Yes and no,” TK answers, unable to stop fiddling with the gauze around his hand. “Yes, in the sense that I was with them the first time I used and a lot of the times after that. But no, because it was my choice whether or not to use. They didn’t force me and…it’s important to own up to that and not blame other people for something I chose to do.”</p><p>He feels Grace’s hand leave his arm and for a split second he feels shame lay across his shoulders with an unbearable weight, but then her hand rests on his back, rubbing soothing circles there as she says, “I’m unbelievably proud of you, TK. I know it took a lot to get where you are and probably more than that to own up to that first choice.”</p><p>“Yeah,” is all he can manage to say, overwhelmed with too many emotions at once. Grace seems to sense that and leads him back on track. </p><p>“So your friends, who have never had a good relationship are getting married and they invited you to the wedding. Do you want to go or no?”</p><p>TK focuses on breathing as what he thinks is the crux of the matter comes to light. “I…want to go, but…”</p><p>He trails off for a bit too long, because Grace, always with more patience than anyone has a right to have, jostles him with her hand still rubbing his back. “But what?”</p><p>“But…I don’t want Carlos to go.”</p><p>“Ah,” Grace says, a frown pulling at her face. “Because you don’t want them to know you’re dating him or…”</p><p>“No! It’s..its not that! I swear,” TK rushes, finally looking at her with nothing short of conviction. Her frown disappears and she nods him forward. “It’s just…they represent a part of my life I’m not proud of and I know Carlos doesn’t judge me-“</p><p>“He most certainly does not,” Grace cuts in, her tone leaving no room for argument.</p><p>“But it’s one thing for him to know, for me to tell him about it. It’s another entirely for him to see it.”</p><p>Grace licks her lips, the way she does when she’s preparing to say something she knows she has to but wishes she didn’t. “Is it, though?”</p><p>“Is it what?”</p><p>“Is him meeting people from that time in your life so different than him knowing the affect they had on it?”</p><p>TK tilts his head, unsure of what exactly she’s implying.</p><p>“Carlos knows about your addiction. He knows the impacts that it still has on your life. He may not know the exact type of person you were then, but he loves the one you are now. Why would he think any different of you when all of those things played a role in bringing you two together?”</p><p>TK knows she’s right, but it doesn’t make it any easier because maybe he’s been trying to convince himself that Carlos would do that just so he doesn’t have to face what’s really making him anxious.</p><p>“Seems a bit unfair to put something like that on Carlos when something else is really bothering you.”</p><p>“Seems more unfair that you can read minds, but okay,” TK quips in hopes that this whole conversation will steer back to something less soul bearing.  Grace, of course, isn’t fooled.</p><p>“TK, honey, look at me.”</p><p>He does, because he’s never been able to deny her anything. Judd is the big brother he never had, but Grace…she fell into the places left open by a mother who constantly chose work and other people’s problems over his own. She brushes his cheek with her hand, wiping away tears she knows he wants to let fall, but too stubborn to do so. </p><p>“Do you think that maybe instead of being scared of Carlos seeing that part of your life, you’re actually scared of your old friends seeing this one?”</p><p>TK’s lip trembles with an emotion he’s not ready to face and he bites it between his teeth.</p><p>“Sweetheart,” Grace soothes, a sad smile on her face. “It’s just you and me, okay? Whatever you’re feeling, it’s alright.”</p><p>A tear does escape then, slow and cold against his skin until it lands on Grace’s finger. “They never really got help with their addiction. I…I tried to get them to go to NA once I started but…they didn’t want to. Told me I was just doing it so my parents wouldn’t hate me, not because I wanted to quit."</p><p>Grace’s hand lays gently on his arm, her thumb soothing a line across his wrist. </p><p>“Maybe they were right at first, but I stuck with it and eventually I wanted it for me. I was sober for <em> years </em> before the whole Alex thing, Grace, and I… worked hard for that. I’ve worked hard for this.”</p><p>Grace leans in to press a kiss to the side of his head. “I know, honey. I know you did. Which is why you can’t let anyone, especially them, make you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy.”</p><p>And that’s just it, isn’t? The reason the past four days have been hell, because he suddenly remembered the person he used to be and could still be if he hadn’t had his parents and a will to want to live a better, healthier, happier life. </p><p>“Sometimes…” he starts with a brave glance in her direction because he has to say it to her before it eats him alive. “Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with how much Carlos loves me, with how much I love him, that it seems like it would be easier if we didn’t love each other at all.”</p><p>Grace smiles at him, rubs her hand down his back. “Didn’t it also feel easier to keep using than it did to get clean?”</p><p>TK thinks about how hard it is to stay sober, how hard it is to allow Carlos to hold his entire heart in his hands and how easy it is to want both every day of his life. </p><p>“TK, it’s okay to move on from that part of your life,” Grace says while taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. “And it’s okay to love yourself enough to leave behind the people who want to stay there.”</p><p>—————————</p><p> </p><p>Judd stands back from the newly repaired gate, inspecting their work with a satisfied whistle. </p><p>“Well, that’s one problem solved. Now, about the other one-“</p><p>“Judd,” Carlos cuts off with a groan, but the man won’t have it.</p><p>“No, you listen to me, Reyes. The two of you, that’s the real stuff right there.”</p><p>Carlos feels a heat on his face that has nothing to do with the warm April sun beating down on them. “The…what?” </p><p>The grin that spilts Judd’s face is amused and just on the right side of teasing. “No one expects the two of you to get hitched tomorrow, but at some point down the road, I expect to embarrass the hell out you both with a best man speech and neither of you are going to ruin that for me.”</p><p>The thought settles into the laugh lines of Carlos’ face and turns up the corners of his mouth even though he tries to keep them from doing so. Judd claps him on the shoulder and shakes him with a teasing, “Yeah? I’m right, aren’t I?”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Carlos huffs on the back of a laugh, shoving Judd away. “Just…I don’t know what to do. He won’t talk to me.”</p><p>“Then talk to him.”</p><p>“What do you think I’ve been trying to do the last week?” Carlos demands incredulously.</p><p>“Nah, you’ve been trying to get him to talk,” Judd shakes his head and puts his arm around Carlos’ shoulders as he leads them across the yard. “He needs you to go first.”</p><p>————————————</p><p>The Ryders share another pitcher of lemonade and a conversation that isn’t as awkward as the first once the gate is finished and bid their farewells a short time later. Carlos sees them to the door, thanking Judd during the crushing hug the man gives him and nodding when the man whispers, “Remember what I said.” Grace hugs him, too, with a whisper of her own. A quiet, “he loves you,” kissed against his cheek as he bends down to hear her. He knows she means TK, knows that her words are true and feels so much guilt settle across his chest at how he’s acted the past week despite of it. </p><p>It’s why when he goes back out to the patio after the Ryders pull out of the driveway, he instantly walks up behind TK and wraps his arms around him in an apologetic hug. Unfortunately, his apology his lost among TK being startled at his sudden appearance causing him to drop the lemonade pitcher onto the tabletop making it shatter, spewing lemonade and glass all over the table.</p><p>“Oh my God!” TK gasps, staring at the mess in shock for a split second before trying to gather the soaked shards of glass into a pile with his hands. “Sorry, I-“</p><p>“Hey! Stop it! Woah, woah. TK!” Carlos uncurls from around him and reaches for his wrists, pulling him away from the broken pitcher. TK looks at him, eyes shiny with worry and a sadness that Carlos has had a hand in putting there the last couple of days and it kills him. </p><p>“Come here,” he whispers as he pulls TK to him, tucking him in the right places when his boyfriend doesn’t automatically relax there. He rubs his hand against TK’s back and starts to sway side to side as he presses a warm kiss to his neck. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“For what?” TK’s voice is rigid in the same way he remains stiff against Carlos.</p><p>“For startling you. For getting annoyed with you. For shutting you out. For not listening to you,” Carlos lists, each one unwinding the tension in TK’s muscles. “For taking this long to apologize.”</p><p>“To be fair, I didn’t give you much to listen to,” TK relents and suddenly his arms are around Carlos’ waist and squeezing back. “I’m sorry, too, and as much as I want to work this out right now, I’m pretty sure lemonade is seeping into the gauze and getting in my stitches.”</p><p>“Shit!” Carlos jerks back and takes TK’s injured hand in his own, wincing at the hiss TK gives and the sight of the soaked gauze covering his palm. “Come on, let me clean it.”</p><p>“You don’t have-“</p><p>Carlos grabs him by the other hand and tugs him into the house and then into the bathroom, pushing him to sit on the toilet but TK hops up on the space between the double sinks instead. Carlos bends down, knocking his hand against TK’s foot for him to move it out of the way of the cabinet door so he can open it for the first aid kit. </p><p>He places it on the counter and sifts through it for the supplies he needs before reaching for TK’s hand. He doesn’t say a word while peeling off the tape TK has no doubt been picking at and unwrapping the now lemon scented gauze. TK’s palm is wet, the skin around the row of black stitches red and burning with lemonade. </p><p>“I know they aren’t supposed to get wet, but since they’re already soaked hold it under the water for a minute to rinse them so maybe it won’t sting anymore. Then we’ll deal with the rest,” he instructs as he turns on the faucet to a comfortable temperature, testing it with his fingers before guiding TK’s hand under it and watching the water rush over his palm. </p><p>“An old friend of mine from back home is getting married,” TK blurts out in the silence that settles between them.</p><p>“Just an old friend?” Carlos asks, because he can’t fathom why that would cause everything that’s happened. </p><p>“Yes. Definitely just always a friend,” TK assures and relaxes at the gentle way Carlos rubs at the skin around his stitches to try and get the lemonade out of the crevices. “He sent me an invite to his wedding and I freaked out.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Because I don’t want to go.”</p><p>Carlos frowns at him. “Then just…don’t go? You live in another state, practically across the country. He’ll understand.”</p><p>“It’s not really that,” TK tries to explain, thinking about how Grace had to help him sort it out minutes ago but wishing it were as easy as Carlos’ way of thinking. “We were friends in high school…when I first started using. When I got clean the first time, I think he resented me for it. He made me feel guilty for getting help.”</p><p>“Then he wasn’t really your friend, was he?” Carlos asks, and the air of protectiveness that punctuates each word makes TK laugh. Carlos glances up sheepishly from cleaning his palm. “Sorry.”</p><p>“No, you’re right. He wasn’t the best friend a person could have, but I still cared about him. I still wanted him to get sober, even if he didn’t want it for himself, even now, but eventually I had to move on. I had to do what was best for me and I guess….just the thought of him seeing how happy I am now, or how far I’ve come and having him make me feel that way again, like I don’t deserve it…it scared me.”</p><p>TK watches Carlos shut the water off, his face pinched in deep thought even though he doesn’t give a voice to whatever he’s thinking as he dabs a towel against the damp stitches. </p><p>“I guess I didn’t have to go to all the way to New York for it to bother me, though.”</p><p>Carlos stops his ministrations and looks up, eyes soft and words even more so, “That part of your life had an impact on the person you are now, but it doesn’t define who you are or what you deserve.”</p><p>“I know,” TK says, moving his hand away from Carlos’ and staring down at the angry skin around his stitches that’s hurting because he’s healing. “Grace said kind of the same thing earlier.”</p><p>“She’s a very smart woman.” Carlos comes to stand between his knees, takes his face in his hands and attention away from things only time will heal. “And surprisingly, Judd had a brilliant thought today, too.”</p><p>“Really?” </p><p>“Mmm hmm,” Carlos hums before leaning in to kiss TK on the forehead, his cheek, his mouth. He leans back, a slow, happy smile on his face and says, “He said one day I’m going to ask you to love me forever and I think he’s right.”</p><p>TK’s face stills between his hands for a split second, but Carlos feels his happiness against his palms as he fights off a grin. “He really said that?”</p><p>“Maybe not in those exact words, but close enough,” Carlos amends, then leans back in to kiss TK slow and sweet. “Do you feel better?”</p><p>TK thinks about the person he was back in high school, the person that wanted love and didn’t know how to ask for the right kind. He thinks about how he held on to people already letting go and let go of people that never have. He thinks about how he surrendered to the help other people gave him and saved himself by fighting for the help he sought all on his own. </p><p>He thinks about a man asking him to dance and that same man standing still while he figured out how to move on with his life again. He thinks about rushed kisses and a patient heart, about the different kinds of fear that nearly drove them apart. He thinks about all the ways this man has loved him and all the ways he’s learned to love back. But most of all, he thinks about how everything in his past lead him here, standing on the threshold of forever with Carlos.</p><p>“TK?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“Do you feel better?” Carlos asks again, his brow furrowing with worry. TK kisses the concern off his face, kisses him until their happiness makes it hard to. He leans back, smiling in a way he hasn’t for days and shrugs his shoulders, mimicking Carlos’ earlier words with a delighted laugh.</p><p>“Close enough.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Kudos are appreciated. Comments are food.<br/>Find me on tumblr @ DjDangerLove</p></blockquote></div></div>
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